Sunday, 12 August 2001

I noiselessly sipped the TeKuanYin and stretched out lazily on the rattan mat. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the weather looked absolutely beautiful. Just the perfect day to chill out by the pool or for some sunbathing. Unfortunately, that wasn't me. I much preferred to curl up with a good book, a glass of red or Chinese tea, some music and spend the whole day in the comfort of my air-conditioned apartment.

Eh? Did you just hear me say Chinese tea? Yeeeah, I don't only drink alcohol, you know? I like my Chinese tea as much as I like my wine. Actually, when you think about it. Tea and wine. They are rather similar, aren't they? Well, for starters, there's the aroma thingy. Then there's the different varieties; both have tannin; the weather plays a big deal in the crop for the year; both relax me...oh, you get the general idea. Truth was, one of my dreams when I eventually tire of advertising was to open a tea house which would also double up as a wine bar. Yeaaa...then I'll make loads of money and it won't matter if I still don't have a man. At least I'll die a rich lady. Uh huh, provided you don't drink yourself into bankruptcy on opening day, I scoffed at myself. That put an end to that rather short daydream.

Then my favourite song on the CD finally came on. I cleared my throat and was about to sing along when I was rudely interrupted by the ringing of the phone. I shot a glare at it; as if the person on the other end would feel those daggers darting out from my eyes. Hey, this diva did not like to be disturbed, especially when she was all ready to give a rip-roaring performance. Okay, I kinda fancied myself as a could-have-been singing superstar. It was the world's greatest loss that my singing talents remained undiscovered.

"Hello," I answered listlessly into the receiver.

"What are you doing? Don't tell me you're sleeping?!"

I recognised the voice. Mag.

"Okay," I replied.

"Huh? Oh nevermind. I'm in Bangsar having coffee. Want to join me?" she asked in one breath.

Not really. I was quite contented to just sit put at home. Instead I asked, "Bangsar? Why Bangsar?"

"Well, there's no where else to go in KL, is there?" Mag said. "I'm at Starbucks now. Get your butt down here."

I made a face. "Do I have to? I'm too lazy and I can't be bothered," I whined pathetically, hoping that it'll do the trick and Mag would give up.

"Flora Lee..."

Oh no. I recognised that tone of voice. Mag was about to go into another of her lectures.

"...When are you going to learn that sitting at home isn't ever going to get you a man? You want one, you have to go out and find one."

I silently mouthed her every word. I knew it by heart now having heard it countless times. I sighed. "Maybe today's my lucky day and one will fall right through my ceiling and into my lap," I replied, somewhat sheepishly.

"Come on, don't be such a lazy bum," Mag cajoled. "I've got a man here I want to introduce to you."

I perked up at the mention of that word. "Really?"

Mag laughed. "No. But come join me anyway. I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?"

Cheeehhh. What a lousy trick to pull on an innocent and desperate girl like me. I mumbled my reply before hanging up. Another problem with me was I didn't know how to turn people down nicely. I would feel terribly guilty about it if I did. Yup, you guessed it. I had agreed to go meet Mag.

Pushing my lethargic self up from the floor, I gave myself a lookover - I had on my denim shorts and Mambo Goddess t-shirt. This would do, I decided. I couldn't be bothered to change; besides it was only Mag.

It only took me about 10 minutes to get there, but it was another half-an-hour before I finally found a parking lot. That was one of the major reasons why I never liked Bangsar - also known as the Lan Kwai Fong of Kuala Lumpur - parking was horrendous. The other reason I didn't like the place was because this was where all the beautiful people hung out - waif-like Kate Moss lookalikes clinging on to their smug-looking, wallet-loaded boyfriends and what-nots. Everytime I stepped foot into Bangsar, I felt horribly ugly.

I dragged my reluctant self into Starbucks and saw Mag sitting outside with Sharon and another girl. Wow. For some reason I couldn't take my eyes off that other girl. She seemed to exude a kind of aura I couldn't quite explain.

"Hey, Flo."

I realised I had been openly gaping at the girl and quickly snapped back towards Mag. "Hi," I said as nonchalantly as possible.

"Flo, you know Sharon. This is her friend, Chris," Mag said, introducing me to 'her'.

I smiled at Sharon and then at Chris, albeit rather nervously. I hope she didn't notice me ogling at her just now. Suddenly I felt really inadequately dressed. What was wrong with me? Why did I feel like wanting to impress this Chris woman so much?

I heard Mag's voice going on and on about something but I was too caught up in my own thoughts. I couldn't tear my mind away from Chris. I was totally fascinated with her. Who was she? I mean, besides the fact that she was Sharon's friend. I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to be friends. But as usual, my tongue was all tied-up in the presence of strangers. So, I just sat there like a total mute.

"So, that's how it all went," I heard Mag say.

"Sounds good to me," I blurted out suddenly which I immediately regretted. I had no clue what Mag had been going on about. It was sort of like an instinctive reaction - you know, like how you would nod absent-mindedly if someone was nagging you but you really didn't know what that person was saying in the first place? Anyway, there was this short pause as all three of them turned to look at me.

Sharon burst out laughing; Mag raised a brow at me; and Chris had this really amused look upon her face.

"Have you been drinking again...without me?" Mag teased.

I scowled at her. I didn't want Chris to think I was some dumb, drunk bimbo, but somehow I reckoned she already probably thought so.

"Or are you so deprived of a man that it's making you go a little wacko?" Mag chuckled as she continued her incessant slander.

Argghhh. Now Chris probably thinks I'm some man-crazy desperado as well.

"You know what?" Mag turned on her best know-it-all voice. "I think you should just hop on the next plane to New York, go look for your Takeshi-san and drag him all the way back with you."

"Who's Takeshi-san?" Chris cut in before I could say anything.

"Her ex," Mag replied as she pointed at me.

Chris smiled and nodded. I stole a glance at her and wondered what was going through her mind.

"So, what do you think?" Mag nudged me.

Sigh. Now why did she have to go bring Takeshi up? And just when I thought I could comfortably forget about him and carry on with my life.